


Home Number... (I've lost count)

by Anonymous



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, On God we gon get Tommy a healthy family yo, Panic Attacks, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Trust Issues, chosen family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28617225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tommy has been bouncing around the foster system for years now. He was only 14 years old yet had been in so many homes he doubt he could name them all even if he thought about it. He didn't like doing that.Some guy named Phil and his two kids were just going to add to that number right? It won't be any different to what he's been through already right?Tommy would rather just get this over with.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 16
Kudos: 380
Collections: Anonymous





	1. The Waiting Room

**Author's Note:**

> Just a precursor for this fic!!  
> Tommy is 14  
> Phil is 32  
> Wilbur and Techno are Twins (Wilbur is older by 2 minutes) and are 17

He’d only gone and done it again.  Tommy had told himself it would better that time, but no, he’d gone and messed it up for himself and everyone around him yet again. It wasn’t like he had meant for it to happen , and if he thought about it hard enough, it likely wasn’t even entirely his fault. But he didn’t want to think about it any harder than he had to. It was his fault. It was easier to think of it that way. 

Sitting outside of the office, he sighed, leaning forward slightly towards the door. Hopefully, he would be able to make out more of the muffled phone conversation  that was happening between  Daryll, his social worker (who Tommy jokingly referred to as Bad,  in a hilarious  juxstaposition to his frankly, disgustingly cheerful personality), and the mystery Emergency Foster Parent on the other side of the line (note the capitalisation of Emergency Foster Parent. So common in Tommy’s life that it became its own special noun).  The chair creaked slightly upon his leaning, and he froze, scared that Bad would hear him from inside his office. 

He technically wasn’t meant to hear what was being said about him, but personally, Tommy thought that was a load of bullshit. Shouldn’t he get to know what this stranger was being told about him?  Not that he didn’t already know, he had heard it enough times to enough people that it followed a script at this point. Problem child. Flight risk. Too quiet. Too loud.  Just Not Quite  The Right Fit  For Our Family. He had heard it all. As if to prove his point, he managed to catch a  snippet of what Bad was nervously  conveying to the person on the other end, “Tommy has quite and extensive file here you see,” Bad  paused to listen to the stranger, then let out a slightly nervous laugh, “Yeah, um, you’ll  definitely need a co py  if you want it all but I can tell you the most important things right now if you’d like?”, Tommy heard the flicking of some papers after a short pause, and got out from his seat, looking both w ays down the hall before standing directly next to the door, now listening intently. Not even he was sure what exactly was written in the file, but based on the nervous laughter, it couldn’t be too good.

“So,” began Bad, “It’s important for you to know right off the bat that Tommy is a flight risk. He’s been in a lot of foster and group homes, and has run from a significant portion of them, ” Hearing this made Tommy frown, of course he was going to fucking run, had Bad even seen the state of some of those places?  Bad continued, oblivious to the extra listening ear, “ According to a few past homes as well, Tommy can be prone to, Um,”  from  the strain from Bad’s  voice  it  was evident  he was searching for a light way of phrasing “Outbursts?”  Tommy made a face, that was one way of putting it. To be fair, he couldn’t exactly go  _ “Tommy here  _ _ sometimes  _ _ gets into panic attacks so bad he en _ _ ds up blindly hurting himself or those around him, cool right?” _ Bad was trying to get the guy on the phone to agree to take him in, he had to be nice about it. 

After at least another five minutes of boring foster crap being exchanged on the phone, Tommy heard Bad hang up, and begin walking towards the door that Tommy was still stood next to. Quickly returning to his seat across the hallway, Tom my made himself look as unbothered and innocent as possible, something he had basically mastered over the years. He was a shit liar when asked directly, but he could do a mean impression of someone minding their business.  What use is being able to lie when no one bothers to ask you in the first place? 

Bad opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway with Tommy, giving him a small nervous smile. That’s one thing Tommy appreciated about Bad, he never faked his emotions around Tommy, he knew just as well that fosters didn’t always work out, and he had been working with Tommy long enough to know that when it came to Tommy, a guaranteed stay just wasn’t realistic. 

“ So Tommy,” Bad walked over and sat in the waiting chair nex t to Tommy, “I know you were probably listening in to that conversation I had,” Tommy opened his mouth to  protest, but Bad simply held his hand up, silencing him, and continued “It’s fine, I know you’re just curious about who you’ll be staying with . Anyway, He should be coming to pick you up later this afternoon. Are you all packed?”.

Eyeing the  beat up backpack next to his chair, Tommy simply nodded his head. He didn’t have a lot, moving around so often and staying with people who didn’t really give a shit meant that collecting possessions wasn’t  really plausible , or desirable. The more stuff you had, the more you had to lose when you got kicked out again. “So then  Bad, are you  gonna tell me about who I’m staying with or am I  gonna have  to go into this fucker’s home blind?” 

“Language! Please Tommy I’ve told you multiple times, you had better not start that  in front of your new foster parent, I would appreciate it if you made a  _ good  _ first impression for once,”  Tommy just grinned, “As for your question,  The man you’ll be staying with is called Phil Watson, he has two other sons who  were both adopted by him, and from the call I had with him he seems a very nice man, ”  Bad smiled. 

Tommy paled at th e information , other kids were never normally good news, all the other homes he’d been placed in that had other kids weren’t too fun. At least they had also been in the system , Tommy found that they were normally less cruel to newcomers, but he still wasn't keen on the idea of staying with them.  As for the “seeming like a very nice man”, Tommy wasn’t buying that for a god damn second, from his experience, the nicer they were, the worse they snapped. And they would snap, especially with Tommy in volved. He had a knack for making people snap. In the end, he just nodded at Bad, “Can I just go up to my room now or do I have to sit in this shitty chair until he gets here?” It wasn’t really a question, he was already reaching for his backpack and standing up. He really needed these last few minutes of relative peace at the group home before he had to go. Being in a stranger ’s house never got easier, you had to learn the rules, which required a lot of mental effort. At least in the group home, he knew the rules and could somewhat be himself, no one could technically get rid of him here. They could n’t really keep him either though, that’s why he had to go to “Phil’s” in the first place.

God this was going to suck.


	2. Out in the Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy finally meets the people he's staying with. It goes.... well it sure does go :)
> 
> Word count this chapter: 1424

It was late afternoon by the time Tommy was called back to the office by Bad. Well, Bad is the one who wanted him there, but it was  actually another kid who came to get him. Lilly her name was. Tommy took his time trudging down the worn stairs of the group home,  hoping to catch at least a few more seconds before he was sent to live with the stranger who had been on the phone earlier. He rounded the corner to the hallway which the office was in and mad e eye contact with two boys who were already there, causing Tommy to freeze in his place. They looked a few years older than him and Tommy  realised, delayed, that these must be the two sons of Phil, which he had been told about. Frankly, they looked terrifying. 

One of them looked way too tall to be allowed, even as he sat down in the waiting chairs of the hallway, his lanky body sprawled  out and took up a considerable amount of space, Tommy es timated he would be around 6’3 when standing . He had curly brown hair with some sort of indie style beanie on top, Tommy thought it made him look pretentious and dumb. The other guy sat a chair away from Beanie Guy, and almost made him do a double take. His hair was  _ bright pink _ and done into a loose  braid over his shoulder . He wasn’t looking at Tommy, instead engrossed in a heavy, and boring looking, book . He was also,  _ huge _ . Tommy reckoned that if this guy wanted  to, he could break Tommy in half like a goddamn toothpick. Although he seemed shorte r than Beanie Guy, the thought of standing next to Pink Hair Guy seemed like the objectively more terrifying experience. Fights were  definitely off the table then. If Tommy wanted to win them that is . 

After the moment of tense eye contact between the three boys in the hallway, which left Tommy more shaken than normal, he sharply turned to knock on the office door and ente red.  “Lilly said you wanted me in the office?” 

Bad smiled at Tommy “Yes! This is Phil,” Phil turned  around in his seat and gave Tommy a warm smile, which Tommy did n’t return, “ Why don’t you introduce yourself?”.

Oh god, this was the worst part.  _ Let’s not mess it up already Tommy, you’re not even at his house yet “ _ Well, um, I ’m Tommy, but I guess you already knew that bit, um” He grimaced and tried to find something even remotely interesting to say about himself that wasn’t also traumatising, “I’m 14 , you knew that already as well, shit-”

“Language!” Bad hastily  interrupted but was further cut off by Phil’s laughter. That was... weird. He’d never had anyone laugh at him like that before. It was n’t a  mean-spirited laugh, more of just a genuine humour found from the situation.  This guy was weird. 

Phil waved his hand to dispel Bad’s apprehension, making  eye contact with Tommy and smiling again,  in that warm way that Tommy was quickly starting to become annoyed by, “Don’t worry about it mat e, we all swear in my house, Wilbur wouldn’t be able to go a day without it I reckon,” 

“Wilbur?” Tommy interjected,

“He’s one of my boys,” Phil explained, but a small frown came over his features,  “ _ shit was  _ _ I meant to know  _ _ this? _ _ No one told me _ _ ”  _ Tommy thought, “Ugh, Sorry Tommy I told them to introduce themselves if they saw you in the  hall, but they clearly didn’t.” Phil’s smile was back , apologetic this time. 

Suddenly, Bad clapped his hands, causing Tommy to flinch, “Well, this could be the perfect time to do that right? Tommy do you have your bag?” Tommy nodded minutely, “Great! I hate to be a ru sh Mr Watson-”

“No worries , ” Phil stood up from his chair at the desk, and tucked it in before shaking hands with Bad “Thank you so much Daryll, I have your contact information in this  file, right?”  he waved around a few papers which Tommy hadn’t noticed he had before. 

“Yep! Everything you need should be in there, of course call me if there's anything else you need, or any problems that come up.” Replied Bad, Tommy translated this in his head as  _ “call me when Tommy fucks up again,” _ __ What a load of bullshit. 

Tommy zoned out on the rest of the pleasantries exchanged between the two adults and made his way into the hallway with them when prompted to by Bad, picking up his backpack from where he discarded it on the floor of the office .  When all three were out in the hallway, the two boys from earlier stood up _ (which one was Wilbur?  _ _ Probably Beanie _ _ Guy, seems like the kind of pretentious name to match his shit clothes _ _ ), _ Tommy quickly realised his height estimations were being far too modest. Beanie Guy was at least another one or two inches  off his original estimation, and Pink Hair Guy was also towering over Tommy. Just his luck. Tommy himself was by no means short, actually being pretty tall for his age at a decent 5’11 the last time he measured , but next to these two giants he was nothing. It didn’t help that gaining weight wasn’t really something he was privy to in all his previous homes, making him a little on the skinny side , and therefore appearing even smaller than he was. 

“Are we finally leaving then?” Beanie Guy groaned out as he stretched from sitting, “Was getting a little boring.”

Phil gave an expression which Tommy noted as being the closest thing to a scowl since he got here, “Wilbur,”  _ (Hah, Tommy had been right!)  _ _ “ _ I asked you to introduce yourselves, didn’t I? Did you?” Shit, Tommy ha dn’t meant for them to get in trouble, he didn’t even know what this guy’s punishments were, and from the way Wilbur’s face dropped at Phil’s tone they couldn’t be good . 

“To be fair,” Wilbur began, “He didn’t say anything either,” this earned him an elbow in the side from Pink Hair Guy, and an even more disappointed glare from Phil. Tomm y was getting more tense by the second, trying to think of anything to  dispel the horrible tension in the air. 

“So!” all eyes went to Tommy. Shit. “Um, I'm Tommy ... nice to meet you, I guess...” god this was awkward.  After a few more unbearable moments where Tommy wasn’t sure if he had said the right thing, Pink Hair Guy stepped forward from his place slightly behind Wilbur, having the most weirdly intense presence Tommy had ever seen from someone who’s glasses were held together on one side with tape, 

“I’m Techno ,” He gestured to himself, “And this is Wilbur,” he turned to face Phil, “ O kay introductions are  over.”  His delivery was surprisingly monotone, making it difficult for Tommy to discern any kind of tone indication from the guy, as well as that his name was  fucking  _ Techno _ , that was even more oddly pretentious than ‘Wilbur’. Techno was already making his way to the door , Wilbur smirked at Tommy and followed behind him. What dickheads. 

Phil sighed, and smiled at Tommy through gritted teeth “Again, sorry about them Tom, I’ll talk to ‘ em when we  get home,”

“Tommy.”

“What?” Phil’s face slackened to a confused look,

“Um, sorry” Tommy started to sweat at his accidental rudeness “Just... please don’t call me Tom.” Lots of foster parents in the past had ignored this,  he should have been used to it by now. But he hated being called Tom. He much preferred Tommy for... reasons he wasn’t going to disclose to Phil just yet. 

Phil just gave another warm smile, “Sorry, Tommy it is then.” he checked his watch, “Lets head to the  car, shall we?” 

Tommy turned to Bad and waved him goodbye and  readjusted  his backpack over his shoulder “Yep, I’m ready.” and he was. He was ready to give up his freedom once again.  In t he few hours between Bad’s  phone call and Phil arriving, Tommy had been up in his room mentally preparing himself for at least a week  of restrictions, awkwardness, disappointment, and he hated it, but he was also preparing himself for yet more abuse. At least each home never lasted too long.  The longest he had been in a home was four months, but that was an outlier, usually it was around three weeks to a month before something happened and he was sent back to the group home. 

He gave this place a week. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Not sure how regular updates will be but I am really excited about writing this so I hopefully wont leave it hanging for too long!!


End file.
